Hi there!
My name is Eliza (she/her) and I’m a Berlin-based somatic coach and expressive arts therapist.
My offering integrates my training in Expressive Arts Therapy (Tamalpa Institute), Somatic Coaching (ICF accredited), and Somatic Experiencing (in training). I’m privileged to continue growing my education in the fields of developmental psychology, attachment theory, and applied neuroscience.
I found the body-oriented approaches most supportive in coming into a deeper and more caring relationship with myself. It taught me the power of inner relating— to honor, listen to, and embrace all parts, even the messy and challenging ones. It is my experience that compassionate and honoring relationship is what transforms.
I know what it means to grow up in a relatively protected and caring household and still experience isolation, disconnection, and grief. Studying the nuances of early attachment, as well as developmental, social, cultural, and intergenerational dimensions of stress and trauma provided me insights into often subtle and invisible wounding we can carry. It's my deep commitment to hold a tender, nuanced, and open space to diverse experiences and stories that acknowledges the fluidity and complexity of human experience.
Alongside the inquiry of what it takes to heal on an individual level, as a graduate student, I was learning about the social systems of power and researching ways towards collective justice and liberation. Decolonial, queer, and intersectional feminist frameworks inspire my understanding of the world and are integral to my practice. As such, I aim to be aware of the material realities that the larger oppressive social systems and constructs have on our access, circumstances, relationships, and day-to-day experiences, and how they live in and are expressed through our bodies.
One of my growing edges and learning goals is to challenge the individualistic leanings of coaching and therapy. I believe these 1:1 containers can provide profound support and value to people, hence my offering. At the same time, I have a sense that more can be done in expanding these modalities into more collective forms of care that become self-sustaining and embedded in everyday life. I strive for a world where everybody has access to resources, support, honoring, and care so that therapy becomes obsolete. In the end, healing does not belong to any modern modality, it belongs to life itself and is inherent to the natural world we are a part of.
Qualifications
2023- 2024 Tamalpa Institue Practicum and Supervision
2023-2024 Body Oriented Coaching Diploma at the Somatic School
2022- ongoing Somatic Experiencing training
2017-2018 Movement-Based Expressive Arts Therapy training at Tamalpa Institute
2016-2021 MA in Gender Studies at California Institute of Integral Studies
Continued education
Integrative Attachment Therapy with Dr. David Elliott, Applied Neuroscience with Neuro Somatic Intelligence, Somatic Internal Family Systems with Frances D. Booth, Inner Relationship Focusing with Maureen Gallagher PhD, Somatic Training at Somatische Academy Berlin (Body-Mind Centering, Authentic Movement, Feldenkrais), Laban/Bartenieff Movement Studies, ongoing supervision, therapy, and coaching
